The Melbourne High School student achieved a perfect ATAR of 99.95 and four perfect study scores – the year’s highest number – in English,mathematical methods,physics and specialist mathematics.
Krishav Malhotra has the biggest haul of perfect study scores this year.Jason South
“I definitely wasn’t expecting that much,” Krishav said. “It was significantly higher than what I was expecting. I was just confused. I was just saying,‘What’s going on?’ That’s all I could say … because it was so surprising to me.”
The highest possible study score is 50,which 510 students managed in at least one subject this year.
There were 80 students who achieved two perfect scores and 21 who achieved three,but only one – Krishav – managed a perfect four.
The 18-year-old from Hoppers Crossing,who is hoping for a future in medicine,listened to music to relieve exam stress and then tried hard not to think about his results.
He advised next year’s VCE students to focus on improving every day.
“It’s just trying to do the best you can do,” he said. “When it comes to VCE,I firmly believe there are factors outside your control. You just try your best and the rest is just luck and … history.”
Students across Victoria open their VCE results to find out how they've performed for 2023.
Nearly 12,000 students from 510 schools and institutions achieved a stellar result in 106 VCE subjects offered this year.
To put that in perspective,if every student listed on the honour roll gathered in one place,there would be almost enough people to fill Rod Laver Arena.
The study score for a subject is between zero and 50. A score of 30 is the mean and a score or 40 or above puts a student in the top 9 per cent of a subject’s cohort.
Getting a 40-plus score in one subject is an achievement,but more than 4200 students achieved such results in more than one area.
There were 2504 who had two 40-plus scores,1442 who managed three,517 who had four and 118 who managed five. One student,Louie Zhao from Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School,achieved six 40-plus scores.
High achiever Christopher Tran.Supplied
Other students have achieved more perfect scores over a number of years. Christopher Tran,from Parkville’s University High School,has a cumulative five perfect scores – two for Latin and chemistry last year,and three this year in physics,mathematical methods and specialist maths.
For Christopher,who has “always been a maths person”,year 12 was about polishing up and being able to execute on the exam. In physics,he saw the task as “really getting to know how physics works,getting to the principles behind it”.
Proficiency was as important as passion. Latin,which he started as a subject recommended by his school,slowly became a language he “really fell in love with”.
According to the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority,31 students since 1995 have had five or more 50 study scores in one year. Three students have secured six perfect study scores (in 1998,2011 and 2014).
In the subjects that attract the most enrolments,there are often more than 1000 high achievers.
In English,2885 students achieved a score of 40 or more,in general mathematics there were 2129,in psychology there were 1233,in mathematical methods there were 1090 and in business management there were 1009.
Some subjects are undertaken by a small number of VCE students,in which there may be only a handful of 40-plus scores. In second-language subjects for Aboriginal languages of Victoria,Croatian,Macedonian,classical Greek and Hebrew,just one student achieved a score of 40 or more.
The 2023 honour roll,which is supplied by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority,is not a definitive list of 40-plus scores,listing only the ones achieved this year. In addition,it does not include the names of students who did not consent to their results being published.
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